The Rookie
by Pugaliciousdish
Summary: Leon is a rookie cop whose got a long way to go if he wants to be a part of S.T.A.R.S. This is kind of a Romantic Comedy/Crime take on Resident Evil 2 if there had never been an outbreak. I love Resident Evil and the characters as a whole and hope I can express that in my writing. Hope you guys enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 1

September 29th, 1998, Raccoon City. After five hours of driving, Leon finally reached the city. In the back of his jeep was his life for the last few months, from toothbrush to underwear. It was getting late, but his first task was to check into the station. He was to meet with Chief Irons, head of the station. From the outskirts, the city looked so peaceful. Especially at night. As he drove off the off ramp onto the street road he rolled up to a stop sign. Several people were out and about. Leon had never been here before, so the experience felt new and fresh. From the passenger seat of the jeep, Leon's phone screen glowed. He picked it up and read the message. It was from the police station. He followed the address given arriving to front gates of the overwhelming large establishment.

"Holy crap." He found a good place to park nearby and got out. He was exhausted, walking through the front gates he reached the big green doors. If the outside wasn't enough then the inside sure was. He was greeted by the change of air and a huge goddess like statue in front of him. There were officers going in and out doors on all floors, for eight o'clock it was for sure busy. There was a woman typing away behind the large statue. He started there.

"Uh hi there, I'm Leon Kennedy. I believe your expecting me?" She looked up from her computer and made eye contact with Leon. She looked like the average secretary, her brown hair was up in a bun. She had glasses with the strap attached that wrapped around her head. She looked back at her computer and start clicking and typing.

"Let's see… Yes, here you are. Leon S. Kennedy. Rookie Officer. You're a half hour early. I'll go see if they are ready for you."

"Yeah traffic was forgiving. Sorry."

"No worries." She got up and walked around her desk, heading inside the door behind him. After a few minutes she came back out. "They're ready for you Mr. Kennedy." She smiled and walked past him. Leon reached for the door knob. Upon opening it, the room was pitch black.

"Um hello?" He was confused.

The lights flipped on. "Surprise!" There was a roar of cheers and squeaks of cheap party utensils. A man approached him. "Greetings Leon, I'm Officer Branagh. Just call me Marvin. Welcome to the Raccoon City Police Department." He held out his hand and Leon shook it.

"Thank you, sir." There were four other officers behind him with party hats on and decorative balloons placed around the room. Leon was surprised none the less. "Is this party all for me?"

"Why of course, when the chief mentioned we'd be getting a rookie we were shocked, it's been awhile since we got anyone new in this office. I speak for all of us when we say we look forward to working with you and instructing you on what it's like to be in the force." He nodded.

Leon stepped over towards a desk at the end in between the two rows. There was a card with his name on it and a letter. After reading the letter, he looked up. "Thank you all." He went around the room and met with everyone to get to know them. They all seemed like they were truthful, but Leon had a gut feeling this week wouldn't go by without a little hazing.

After an hour everyone but Marvin and Leon left for home or out on patrol. "So, am I still supposed to go meet with Chief Irons?" Sitting across from Marvin, he looked to him.

"Heavens no. He never meets with recruits anymore. That lazy man is so caught up in himself and his position to even care. I only meet with him if it's important. For now, you best be getting to that new apartment of yours." He grabbed a set of keys off his desk and tossed them to Leon. "That's your new apartment and mail key. Be sure not to lose it."

"Thank you, sir. What time should I be here tomorrow? And what about parking?"

"Oh yes, be here at eight am and you got spot seven-c in the parking garage below the station. I know the station can be kind of overwhelming so here's a map." He handed him a rolled-up map.

"Okay thank you, I will be here tomorrow at eight sharp." Leon got up and left the room. He waived to the secretary who was packing up her stuff leaving as well. It was even darker out now, he walked back and got into his jeep. He put his elbow on the door panel leaning his head on his hand. With the other hand on the wheel he drove down street after street following the address to his new apartment. It was a relief they were paying for the first three months of rent, this gave him time to start bringing in some money. He thought about getting a roommate but that might be more trouble than it's worth.

It was only a five-minute drive from the station thankfully. He pulled up to a curb and got out. It didn't look to shabby, the outside at least. He stepped up the stairs and walked through the door. There was a set of mail boxes to his right all labeled accordingly by numbers one through eight. He looked at the number on his key. "four huh?" He opened the box, it was of course empty. He began up the flight of stairs until he reached the second floor, across the hall was three and there was his door. Number four. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was big for a single bedroom apartment. There was a decent size living room and kitchen with the bedroom and bathroom in back. He could see his jeep from the kitchen window. Above him he could hear yelling. " _Great."_ He thought.

After an hour of unpacking the car, he finally relaxed onto the empty floor atop a blanket he brought. He stared at his ceiling, wandering what the next few months would hold. He'd finally made it as a cop. He was doing what he wanted. He knew the risks but looked past them. He figured after work tomorrow he'd be best to get some furnishing if he's going to live here for a while. After that last thought he drifted asleep.

The next morning, he stopped by a nearby bakery and grabbed breakfast. When he got to the station, he nodded to the nameless secretary. His official first day, he stepped inside the office. Right at seven fifty-five.

"Kennedy! Good to see you, hope that bagel is to-go because you and I are going out on your first patrol this morning." Marvin swirled keys to a patrol car around his pointer finger. "Follow me back down to the garage!"

Leon with a bag in one hand and a half-eaten bagel in his mouth eagerly followed. Tossing his bag near his desk. He took the bagel out of his mouth. "Yes, sir."

"First things first, we need to get you and myself equipped with the right gear. They continued back into the main hall, through another door, and another, then a huge office, then another hallway. Finally, to a staircase then another hallway. The station was infamous for the walk. Marvin pulled out a red card key and swiped it. The door unlocked. Inside were weapons and vests plus other tactical equipment. "This blue attire is what we'll where when we're out on the streets. This vest will stop a bullet or two if you're lucky. Here's a VP70, it has a bit less firepower but holds more. Maybe if you're lucky one of these days you'll get the attachment for the gun. "

Leon checked to make sure the safety was on. It was, then holstered it. After getting equipped they left and towards a door across the hallway. Once in the garage they unlocked the patrol car and drove out into the daylight. They spent the first hour going over basics, what to look for, where the routes were. The usual trouble spots and when to get out and make stops.

The rest of the day flew by, nothing special. Driving and watching. Then the first week passed by. Leon had gotten ahold of the basics. He was either out on patrol, in car or by foot. When he wasn't, he was at his desk doing paper work or twiddling his thumbs. Sitting at his desk writing, Leon heard the call of his name. He got up and walked into Marvin's office. "Yes sir?"

"Marcy at the front desk needs one of us to guide a guest up to the Stars room up on the second floor. Mind going to help out?"

"Course sir." After a week, he'd finally learned her name. " _Marcy."_ He felt accomplished. He walked out the door into the main hall in front of him was a red-headed girl with short shorts and a biker vest on with _Made in Heaven_ on it and a seductive female on it. She had a black under shirt and long brown boots. She looked out of his league for sure. He tried to reassure himself he was good looking though. "Excuse me Ms. Are you the one who needs to be escorted to the Stars room?" She turned around and met eye contact. She took a quick scan of him.

"Yes. Hi I'm Claire, Claire Redfield. I'm here to see my brother." She smiled.

"Okay just follow me." Leon tried to think back to what the layout of the station was. He knew the room was on the second floor, but which way was the fastest? He pulled out his map from his pocket.

"Are you new here?" She asked.

"Yes, how'd you know?" He felt dumb asking that.

"Well your holding a map and you didn't search me for any weapons or bombs." She laughed.

He felt like a fool now, how could he not think to check her?! He'd been too distracted by her looks. He tried to think of something clever. "No, I didn't forget to check, I just… had a gut feeling that you were okay. And I'm just double checking to make sure I know where I'm going."

She laughed again. "Your gut. I'm sure it was." They continued through several hallways and up a set of stairs. Into another hallway, there was only one door. There was a large logo that read _S.T.A.R.S._

"Well here we are." He opened the door and walked inside with her. There were four people inside, from left to right; a blonde man with dark tinted glasses that matched his clothes, a brown hair bearded fellow in red with a beefy build, a dark-haired guy in green with muscles but not as big as the beefy guy, and lastly a pretty woman with short brown hair dressed in blue. According to Marvin they were the best. They all looked at Leon and Claire.

The blonde guy stood up. "Can we help you two?" He seemed annoyed by them.

"Sorry to interrupt, we're here- "Leon was cut off.

"Chris!" Claire yelled. "What the hell is with this letter you sent to mom? You won't be able to see the family for a while?" She stormed over to the man in green who Leon now knew as Chris. She threw the letter at him. "Some big case you got going on here! You had her so worried! She called me the night of and was panicking. Do you know what it's like to have your phone ring at one in the morning?" Leon took a step back and stood in the door frame watching the entire thing unfold.

"Claire! I- I- Uh. Look…" Chris had a puzzled look on his face, Leon could tell he was thinking of any excuse he could. After a moment he relaxed and sighed. "Truth is Claire, I wanted to stay up here for the next couple of holidays. I wanted to spend more time with Jill. Plus, this allows me to work more. I'm sorry. "

"Then why didn't you just tell her that? Mom knows we're moving on with our lives, she'd understand if you needed some space." She bent down and hugged Chris. After a moment she looked like she recollected herself. "Glad I came all this way for that. Sorry about the commotion everyone. Hey Jill." She waived and laughed. "I'm Chris' sister he talks a lot about you."

Jill stood up and shook her hand. "He talks about you as well, it's nice to finally meet you too."

The blonde guy made an abruptive cough. "Now that that's over can we get back to work?" He sat down. They all apologized. After a few minutes, Claire hugged Chris goodbye and walked out of the room with Leon.

"Well my escort, shall you escort me back to the main hall?" Her mood was lighter and more playful now.

"Yeah sure. This way." They walked back. "So, what do you plan to do now? I mean it sounds like you came a long way to see him. Are you going to stay in town a few days?"

"Whose asking?" She smirked confidently.

Leon blushed. "Just a curious cop, that's all."

"Well maybe this curious cop can take me out for coffee on one of his days off?" They continued into another hallway.

 _"What!? Is she serious?"_ "Well sure, I mean I have tomorrow off and then the day after so-"

She cut him off again. "Perfect!" She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper, call this number tomorrow and take me somewhere." They finally reached the main hall again. "Well I'm off to find a hotel, see you tomorrow Mr.…? "

"Kennedy, Leon Kennedy." He replied. "See you tomorrow Claire." He nodded.

She smiled. "Cute name." Then turned around and walked out.

Leon was still a little in shock, he had no idea how he managed to get her number and a coffee date with a girl like that. He took a second to think. _"Guess I'll have to wait to buy my couch another day."_ He made a little laugh to himself.

"Someone's excited." Behind him Marcy the secretary was laughing. "Lovestruck rookie?"

"What? No! Be quiet… What kind of name is Marcy!?" They both laughed. Leon walked back into the office and sat down. Marvin stepped out and headed towards him.

"Well, how would you access your first week?" He leaned against Leon's desk, arms crossed.

"Well, kind of nerve racking, sort of slow, exciting, and pretty good." Leon smirked.

"Ha, well Officer Kennedy welcome to the force. Enjoy your two days off. Once you get back we're letting you go on your first solo patrol." He patted Leon's shoulder. "It's five, go home early. See a movie or something."

"Thank you so much, sir." Leon stood up and packed his bag. "See ya!" He waived to the guys and left the office.


	2. Chapter 2

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 2

Leon hopped into the shower. He was excited but sort of intimidated. Where was he going to take Claire? He stood with the steaming water hitting his back, brainstorming ideas. The bakery down the street didn't sell great coffee but it met his standards. " _Maybe I should message Marvin?"_ He thought. He turned off the faucet and reached for a towel to dry off. His apartment, while still lacking a couch, was beginning to feel like home. He walked over to his dresser with a towel around his waist and picked out clothes for the day. He grabbed a plain white tee, dark blue jeans, boxers, and some white ankle socks. After a quick change he headed into the kitchen and grabbed his notepad with all the phone numbers he knew so far. After finding his number, he quickly typed up a message for Marvin. _Marvin, do you know of any good coffee places near my apartment I could take a girl?_ He hit send.

After about ten minutes of watching television from a dinning room chair, he received a reply. _Leon, try that new place on 85_ _th_ _and western. It's called Frank's. One of the guys in HR said it was good._

Leon typed back a quick response. _Thanks!_ He dialed the number Claire had given him.

After a few rings a voice picked up. "Hello?" Her voice sound drowsy.

He felt the nerves build up. "Hey Claire, it's Leon Kennedy. I'm calling to see if you're still up for coffee this morning?"

There was a faint yawn through the phone. "Oh, hey Leon, sure I'm still down. I'll message you my address, I just need to shower and get ready. Be here in an hour okay?"

"Okay I'll see you then." They both hung up the phone. He felt a little relief. Leon hadn't dated a girl in a year, so it was only natural he was feeling a little rusty. His last girlfriend had cheated on him with some fitness instructor of hers. Leon knew he could probably take the guy, but he decided it wasn't worth it.

Once forty minutes had passed, he grabbed a black jacket and was out the door. The hotel she was staying at wasn't too far, he arrived five minutes to nine. He sat in his jeep in the parking lot. He shot her a message saying he was there. After a minute she came out and looked around. Leon rolled down his window and poked through.

"Claire! Over here!" He shouted. She walked over to the passenger side door and got in.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

Leon started the car back up. "We're going to Frank's." He replied.

"Who's that?"

"It's a place my boss recommended. He said some guys at the station liked it, plus, it's new to the area like we are." He continued down the city streets.

"Sounds good to me." She smiled. After a few stop signs and street lights, they'd finally made it. Leon pulled into the parking lot of the small diner like place. Leon looked in the rear-view mirror and walking behind them was an older woman getting ready to cross the road with her purse. A man dressed in black walked up behind her and snatched the purse from her!

"Hey, give that back! Someone help!" She yelled.

Leon's instincts kicked in. "Claire quickly open the glove box."

She unlatched the glove box and reached inside. "Theirs's a gun inside. And some handcuffs."

Leon grabbed both and got out of the car. He wrapped the strap around his leg as quick as possible, put the cuffs into his jacket pocket, and took off in full sprint. "I'll be back Claire!" The man was fast, but Leon ran track in high school, he won state junior year. The man went down a dark alley way and Leon followed. With luck on his side, the guy tripped over a barrel of trash. Leon was now behind him. He unholstered his weapon, with the safety on still. He shouted. "Rpd! Freeze!"

"I Surrender! Don't shoot!" He lay on the ground, with hands in the air, he dropped the purse.

Leon walked over and began to cuff him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning." After he finished reading him off his rights, he walked him back to the old lady and handed her purse over. "Are you okay ma'am?" He asked.

"Yes! Thank you so much officer." Some people around Frank's had watched it take place. A majority clapped. Leon walked him over and opened the rear door of his jeep.

"Hey Claire, sorry about this but we need to make a quick detour to the station real fast." Leon shoved the guy into the back and buckled his seat belt.

"No that's okay…" She seemed intimidated at first but laughed a little. "Craziest date I've ever been on."

At the sound of date, Leon blushed. "Ha I bet." He got into the jeep and pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road once more. They drove back to the station and pulled into the parking garage. Claire stayed in the car while Leon walked the mugger into the station.

After half an hour of explaining and processing, Leon walked out the door into the garage returning to the car. "Claire, I'm so sorry about the wait, it was just question after question." Claire had her seat reclined, half asleep.

"Huh, what? Oh, hey you're back." She yawned. "How long was I out?"

Leon laughed and got in. "I don't know, shall we head to Frank's?"

Claire readjusted her seat. "Sure, let's do it." They departed the parking garage and drove back the way they came.

"This is so good!" Claire took another bite of her breakfast sandwich. They sat inside near a window of Frank's. She followed with a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. Glad we checked this place out." He sipped his coffee.

"Hey Leon, what are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?"

Leon glanced up from his plate. "Well, I need to go and pick up my couch, but I was planning on doing that tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Well I could help you out, it does take two after all to lift something like that. I'm not scheduled to work until next week, so I don't have to leave anytime soon." She offered.

He nodded. "Sure, I could use the help. That reminds me, where do you work?"

"I do a lot of volunteer work, but mostly I'm a committee manager at city hall up in my hometown."

"Oh, wow so you get to help a lot of people then? That must be exciting, to say the least."

"It can be, but it can get boring or strenuous without a moment's notice." She replied.

"I feel you on that one." He laughed. There waiter quietly walked by. "Excuse me Ms. Can we get our check?"

She turned around to face them. "Don't worry it's on the house, we saw what you did out there earlier. Have a good one." She smiled and walked away.

They both turned to each other and then shrugged their shoulders, smiling.

They spent the rest of the day shopping at the furniture gallery for a couch, the original one Leon found wasn't as great as he thought it was the first time. After an hour, he finally found one just big enough, comfy enough, and with a frame just stern enough. It was red.

"This is the one!" He jumped onto the seat, Claire followed.

"Yeah, this is pretty nice. Mine at home isn't as nice as this one."

Leon looked up to the sales guy. "I'll take it." After about ten minutes of paying and figuring out who the delivery truck was going to follow, they drove back to his apartment. Leon and Claire stood outside as the delivery guys opened the back and dropped the couch onto the sidewalk. It was to Leon's relief it had a wrapping, so it wouldn't be stained by the city muck.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy, do you two need help getting this up there?" One of the guys asked.

Leon and Claire both almost choked. Leon was the first to speak. "We're not- "

"We're not married." Claire finished. They both blushed.

The delivery guy scratched his head. "Oh, well sorry, my mistake. Do you still need help?"

"No, it's fine thank you!" Leon tipped the guy and walked over to an end of the couch. "Want to grab the other end Claire?" It was a little awkward after that. With some rotating and wiggling, followed by some heavy grunts and lifts, the couch was finally neatly set in front of the living room tv. "Wow, that's the last time I'm moving that." Leon wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Oh my god, me too. Do you have any water?" Claire was out of breath.

"Course!" Leon ran into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses and filled them with water. "Here you go." He handed her one.

"Thank you." She took a huge swig.

Leon walked over and grabbed the tv remote, then slid onto to the couch and relaxed into a comfortable position. "Hey Claire, do you want to watch tv or something? We could find a movie?" He started flipping through channels. "It's only three."

Claire stared down at her watch. "I would but I have to be at my brother's in an hour, I promised I'd have dinner with him and Jill. I'm sorry. Today was great though, I had a lot of fun!" She laughed.

Leon felt a little disappointed but was understanding. "Oh, it's okay." He tried to reassure her. "I could probably nap now anyways!" They both laughed. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, it's okay, I can catch a cab." She smiled and waived to him. "I'll- I'll see you later Leon." She seemed unsure of that.

"Okay, bye." He waived as she walked out, closing the door behind her. Leon turned off the tv and put his feet up on the couch in an effort to get even more comfortable. _"This is comfort."_ He thought happily and closed his eyes. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door, he got up to answer it.

"Claire?" In front of him she stood looking a little embarrassed. "Did you forget- "

"Do you want to come with me? I know we only just met yesterday, but I mean it's just dinner with my brother and his girlfriend, so I thought maybe I could bring a plus one?" She gave out a shy laugh.

Leon was shocked and blushed like usual. "I- Sure!" He tried to sound confident. "There isn't much on anyway. Let me change real fast."

After fixing his hair and putting on a different shirt they departed to Claire's hotel. She changed as well and fixed her makeup. They were looking spiffed up as they were this morning, now it was hardly noticeable they moved a couch earlier.

"Anything I should know about your brother?" They walked up the stone steps to a small single-story house.

"Well he likes to workout, he's overprotective, and your typical boy." She replied. "Don't try to hard to get him to like you, he never liked any of the guys I dated in school."

"Oh great. Well, there has to be a first time for everything at some point, right?" He stood behind Claire as she rang the doorbell.

Behind the door footsteps surrounded the entrance. The door opened. "Claire!" He turned his eyes to Leon. "And… friend?!" He didn't seem too thrilled about him being there.

"I hope you don't mind, we got coffee earlier and hung out. Don't worry too much." She smiled trying to play it off. "Where's Jill?"

"She's inside cooking, come on in." He stood out of the way and the two of them walked in. It was a small house but very warm and welcoming. They moved to the living room where the fire place and tv were on.

Leon stayed closed to Claire, somewhat nervous and regretting his decision. _"Who invites a date to their brother's family get together."_ He thought _._ "Your guy's house is beautiful." He said.

"You like it? Jill planned a lot of the décor, I picked out most of the furniture." It was noticeable too. Leon could tell something like the couch was very masculine in style, he probably watched sports a lot. That and there was a football game on the tv. "That reminds me, what was your name again? I recall you in an officer uniform earlier at the station with Claire. But that was probably the first time I've seen you."

"Yes, I actually just transferred to the city recently. I'm Leon, Leon Kennedy. You're Chris, right? I've heard some of the guy's mention your name while I've been here, Claire did too."

He held out his hand to Leon. "Yeah, Chris Redfield." They shook. Chris walked into the kitchen where Jill popped up from the oven with a plate of turkey.

"Hey babe, the turkey is done." She set it down and turned to Leon and Claire. "Hey Claire! Hey… officer who works at the station? I'm sorry."

Leon laughed. "It's okay, I'm Leon. Claire invited me here tonight."

"Oh fun. Well more the merrier!" She smiled.

After the turkey had cooled a bit, they all sat down to eat. Chris took the first bite. "Oh, this is great! Be sure to save what we don't eat for this week. It would go great on a _sandwich_!"

Jill looked irritated but laughed. As if there was something funny that Leon nor Claire caught.

"Yeah this is good, thank you for this. I'm still getting situated in my apartment, so a home cooked meal is a great change of pace." He took another bite. Chris and Claire started to chat about their mother, she was thankfully in good health.

"So, Leon you're just a rookie then? Who are you working under?" Chris wiped his mouth.

"Technically yes, I was a cop for a week out in Miami but was then shipped out here. As of right now, my boss is Marvin."

"He's a good cop, we've worked with him before on a homicide case. Real gruesome stuff I tell ya."

"Oh, I can't imagine all the crazy stuff you two have seen, being in stars and all. I saw on the news a few months ago you guys stopped that crazy cannibal guy who lived up in that mansion in the woods? He did like human and animal testing? Crazy stuff."

"It was, the media overexaggerated a bit but the testing was true. He wasn't cannibalistic. But what a waste of money too, he spent all the fortune on equipment and research. Just to get busted by us." Jill stated.

Pretty soon, they were all stuffed to the brim. "Thanks again for coming Claire, least I could do after having you fly all the way out here." Chris plopped down onto the couch.

"It's alright Chris, I was meaning to come out here eventually but just never got around to it." She smiled and grabbed her purse of the back of her chair.

"I know it's getting a bit late, but did you guys want to stick around a little longer? We're just going to watch tv the rest of the night." He relaxed as Jill came over and sat down beside him.

She turned her head to him. "It's your turn for dishes." She smiled and relaxed, while Chris tensed up.

"You tell me this now!?" He cried as he got up from his loving couch towards the kitchen sink. "Never mind guys, stay here any longer and she might have you vacuum!" He laughed and waived as Leon and Claire headed for the door.

"It was good to meet you two, hope to see you around the station more." Said Leon.

"Yeah you too!" Jill and Chris replied. "Don't be a stranger Claire!" Chris added.

Leon and Claire left out the door and climbed back into the jeep. "You want to be dropped off at your hotel?" He asked. She nodded.

It was almost nine by the time they reached the hotel. "Thanks again Leon, tonight was fun! My whole day was really."

"Anytime! It was a lot of fun." She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, before getting out she leaned over to the driver side and locked lips with Leon's. He was shocked but welcomed it enjoyingly. She pulled away and got out, closing the door.

"See ya around Leon." She smiled and walked into her hotel.


	3. Chapter 3

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 3

After a week, Claire and Leon were waiting in line at the airport for Claire to get her luggage tagged. They were five families until the front.

"Why does this always take forever?" Leon yawned. "There were no later flights?"

"No, I'm sorry, I know it was last minute and you have to work today." Claire checked her watch, it was six am.

"It's alright, I couldn't sleep anyways. The people above me were arguing again. What time is it?"

"Six, what time do you have to be in?"

"Nine, I'll probably head back after you pass through security." He raised his arms and stretched out.

"Okay, after this want to grab a quick coffee? It'll wake you up." She smiled. After a crying baby and a confused elderly lady who asked every question a first-time flyer could ask, they cleared Claire's bags. "Thank you." She and Leon nodded to the desk worker and headed towards the store outlets.

"Okay are we just going to ignore that? Who asks if they have to take out there denchers during a flight?!" Leon complained. "I probably would've arrested her if she would've asked if she could clean them." They both laughed.

Stopping at a map, they looked for a coffee shop. "There!" Claire pointed to a _Rooster mornin' coffee._ They made there way over and ordered, sitting at a nearby table inside.

"So, when do you think you're coming back?"

"Well, I have to catch up on work for the next few weeks and help out with my mom so I'm not sure." She took a sip from her coffee and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Maybe if a certain guy gives me reason to come back soon I will, if not then maybe a month or two. Check up on Chris when I can. Especially with how things with Jill are, I'm sure it won't be long before I receive a wedding invitation." She giggled.

"Yeah that makes sense, I mean my door is always open so feel free to visit." He couldn't really think of an excuse for her to visit. " _I have heart problems that require a female's touch? Holy shit that was cheesy."_ Leon's inner thoughts died inside. "I'm sure that there's some sort of volunteer work that could be done down here though too."

"You think so? I could see a few things in this town I could volunteer myself in." She winked. They both let out a laugh and finished their coffee in a full-hearted mood.

Leon felt kind of down she was leaving, she was the closest friend he'd made in this town. And she wasn't even from here. They walked up to the security checkpoint. "Well, I guess this is it, huh?" He gave her an almost sad smile, she returned the same expression.

"I guess so, I had fun though. The dinner with Chris, the couch move, the criminal chase. Then yesterday we watched that movie at your place. And the day before we got dinner again. All of it was pretty great."

"Yeah, I'm still on edge from the movie yesterday, zombies aren't my thing." He laughed. "If I didn't have to work so much this past week we could've done more." He sighed.

"I'll be sure to come back soon then." She leaned in for a quick kiss and pulled away towards the long lines of security. "That way we can do more." She stuck out her tongue in a seductive matter and winked again, trying not to laugh. "Bye Leon!" She waived and smiled as she got into the lines.

"Bye Claire!" He waived back and began walking back towards the entrance. He watched as all the families passed by him, each either so happy or awfully annoyed with one another. _"I wonder if I'll have that someday."_ He thought to himself and smirked as he stepped out of the airport.

It was nine o' five by the time he walked through the front doors of the station. "Hey Marcy!" He hurried past her desk into his office. Marvin got up from his desk and walked towards Leon who was now setting his stuff down.

"Hey Kennedy, how are you this morning?"

"Marvin, hey, sorry I'm late. I almost fell back asleep. I had to drop off a friend at the airport at six earlier." Leon straightened himself up and adjusted his shirt.

"Don't worry about it, you're almost through your first month here. Don't worry too much about following a routine right now, just make sure to have a good one before the month is over."

"Of course, thank you. Am I out on patrol alone again today?" He asked.

"Yes, you are, wheels up in thirty." He patted Leon's shoulder and walked back into his office. There was only one other guy at his desk, meaning the others were on patrol as well. After half an hour, Leon grabbed the keys and set out onto the city streets.

By lunch time, he'd given out two tickets. One for speeding and the other for parking. Leon was sitting in his patrol when he heard a call over the radio.

"There's a disturbance call on Constant Boulevard in the Quint Apartments, number five o' three."

Leon looked at the map in the passenger seat and picked up the radio. "Kennedy here, I'm nearby, I'll check it out. Over."

When he pulled up alongside the curb, the street was empty. He walked up the steps into the four-story apartment. It was quiet, but footsteps could be heard from the upper levels. He put his hand onto the rails of third floor, shining a flashlight onto the door numbered five hundred and three. It was abnormally dark in the halls; the only light came from outside. It was like everyone turned off their lights except for the door Leon was supposed to check out. He felt the hairs on his arm perk up as the door was already a little bit open, he pushed it further. It was even darker in the room, he waived his gun and light around the room. All the small subtle sounds ceased. He could hear his heartbeat echo.

"RPD! Is anyone in here?!" There was no reply. He moved to the living room which seemed normal enough, there was a couch pillow on the ground but nothing out of the ordinary. There was a glass half filled with what was presumably water on the ottoman. He shined his light to the kitchen, there were bloody hand prints on the walls. _"What the hell?"_ He followed the stains, the victim looked like they dragged themselves down the hallway. He followed. The trail stopped at a door on the left end. He stopped to listen, he couldn't make out any noise besides an almost bubbling pitch. He pushed open the door.

"RPD!" He waived his light around and turned to the source of the noise. On the ground laid a man whose stomach looked like it was erupting with acid. _"Jesus Christ."_ He knelt down to the man's side, his hands were stained in red. _"Judging by the marks surrounding his stomach, it looks like he almost clawed out his intestines and everything else. What could have caused this?"_ The man's stomach was slowly settling. _"It must've occurred recently."_ Looking back at his stomach; he felt his stomach take a turn, but he tried to maintain a game face. Behind him he heard a small rustle, he turned his flashlight and himself back around towards the doorway.

"Hey! -." A figure too dark to see raised there leg and kicked Leon in the face! He was sent towards a corner of the room, against the wall. The right side of his face felt on fire. "Ugh! What the hell!" He leaned his back off the wall and tried to keep balance, the figure was running down the hall. "Hey wait! RPD!" He took off through the hallway and shined his light and gun at the figure who was about to step out the front door. "Freeze! Goddammit! I will shoot!" The figure stopped, Leon could finally get a glimpse of what they looked like. She wore black shoes and tights, with a red short dress. Her hair was short and black but longer than Leon's so just about to her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." She turned around, Leon made note that she looked Asian American. "I wasn't sure what to do officer."

He was still so confused. "Who are you?!" He asked.

"Ada, Ada Wong."

"What's going on here Ms. Wong, what the hell was that in there? Did you do that?" Leon looked at her stance, she looked almost confident but scared. Her body was shaking a little as if she was acting.

She put on a scared expression. "No officer, that's my boyfriend. John. I just got home, and I saw him like that, I think it was something he drank." She pointed to the glass on the ottoman. Leon walked over to the glass, it looked like water but upon closer inspection, it looked off.

"Say I believe you, why the hell did you kick me?"

"I thought you were one of the guy's who did this to him."

Leon took a moment to think it all over. _"So, some kind of extreme acid drug burned through her boyfriend and she comes home right at the time of his death. I need to call this in."_ He reached for the radio around his waist. "This is Leon Kennedy, I need to report a homicide at my location, bring the paramedics and a hazmat suit or something, it's chemical." He turned back to Ada. "As for you, you're going to have to come with me. We need to ask some more questions down at the station." He walked closer to her.

"Of course, officer." She wasn't crying, nor looked like she had been.

After ten minutes a few officers and the medic team showed up. They quarantined the entire apartment. Both Leon and Ada were tested for anything before he was able to take her back to the station.

"You're good to go rookie." Said one of the medical staff. "You too Ms. Wong."

Leon walked her to his squad car where he sat her in the back seat. He got in the front and headed for the station. It was a quiet ride until she spoke up. "You're a rookie huh? Are you enjoying being a cop?" She gave out a small smirk but sighed.

Leon looked in the rear-view mirror. "Yeah but I can still handle myself so no funny business."

"Oh no funny business here, just trying to stir conversation. That's all."

"You know for someone who just lost their boyfriend, you're in pretty high spirits."

"In all honesty, we weren't dating for very long. I was planning on breaking up with him soon anyways. But don't get the wrong idea, the thought of that happening to me. It's frightening. I'll miss him." She was quiet after that, they arrived at the station where the blonde guy from the Stars team was waiting for them in the garage. Leon parked in his spot and walked Ada over to him.

"Stars will take it from here Mr. Kennedy." He sounded arrogant. "Mr. Redfield is waiting to take your side of the story in one of the staff conference rooms."

"What?" Leon took a moment to register. _"If Stars is involved then there must be something else going on…"_ He nodded. "Okay." He turned to Ada. "Go with him."

She gave him an annoyed look and rolled her eyes. Her and the blonde guy went through the door back into the building. Leon pulled out his map trying to remember where the conference rooms were. _"Did he mean one of the interrogation rooms?"_ On a hunch, he made his way through the station towards the back of the first floor, down a few hallways. Chris was outside one of the rooms leaning against a wall with a notepad and a case file. "Hey, Chris."

"Leon, look at you, third week in and you already got a homicide under your belt. We're in here." He pointed to the second door and walked inside with Leon behind him. They both took a seat across from each other. "So, I'm sure your familiar with the drill, I ask a few questions, you answer truthfully. This is all on record. State your full name and Occupancy."

"My name is Leon Scott Kennedy, I am a police officer at the Raccoon City Police Department." Leon tried to relax, he wasn't in trouble.

Chris straightened himself up a little. "Start with the beginning, what happened when you arrived at the residence?"

Leon explained everything that went down in the last few hours, all the way up till he arrived back at the station.

"Good, now going back a bit. You said he might've drank something? Do you have any idea what?" He wrote more notes down.

"No, not anything I'm aware of. Whatever it was though was strong enough to burst through his stomach. He looked like he had been trying to rip out his stomach too."

"That sounds horrific. This woman, Ms. Wong? She said she arrived home shortly after that happened, then when you showed up she kicked you in the face thinking you were one of the people who did it to him? Did you see anybody else?"

"No, not at all. As far as I was concerned it was just us two."

"There wasn't anybody outside? In the hallways?"

"No, by the time I showed up, she was the first living person I saw in the building. All the lights were off except for that room. Maybe it was just because everyone else was out or at work, but it looked sketchy."

Chris folded up his notebook after finishing his last thought. "Well Leon, that's all I have for now. If you can think of anything else let me know and we can set this back up." He walked over to the door. "I think Marvin wants to see you."

Leon walked out into the hallway and turned around. "Okay thanks. By the way Chris, why did Stars take over the case? It was just a homicide, right? I mean surely, we could have looked into it more ourselves. Or even the investigation unit."

"Unfortunately, Leon I can't say too much, were looking into it all right now. I don't know too much either though, the Captain said we had a new assignment, so we got to work. I got to go Leon, I'll see you around." Chris hurried down the hallway and out of sight.

Leon walked back to the office room in deep thought. Marcy was typing away at her computer as he walked by. He stopped. "Hey Marcy, if I wanted to find more information like records for past crimes where could I go?"

She looked up. "Leon, you have a computer. Use it." She laughed at him.

He felt like a fool. "Wow, thanks." He walked into the room in shame. Sitting down at his desk, he turned on the monitor. Then Marvin walked over.

"Leon, sounds like you had a wild patrol today. You still up for patrol tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's part of the job, right?"

Marvin patted him on the shoulder. "Atta' boy." He walked back to his office.

It only took two hours to find what he was looking for. Which revealed nothing. _"There's barely anything on her, just her driver's license and a passport. No job data, no recent crimes, no tickets even. Nobody is this clean."_ Leon leaned back in his chair and remembered the name she'd given him. _"… John? But John what?"_ He started typing his name and about a hundred different Johns popped up. He sorted by recent and deceased. There was a name that was updated from today. _"John Clemens? He's an Umbrella employee, isn't that the pharmaceutical company?"_ Leon yawned and looked at the clock, he was done for the day! Leon popped an Advil for his headache and packed up. When he walked out he witnessed the blonde guy who was probably the Captain of Stars, talking to Ada, over by the front door.

"You're free to go Ms. Wong… The RPD has funded a hotel you can stay at for the next week or so until you can head back to your home."

"No, it's quite okay. I have another place I can stay. Thank you though." She walked towards the door and left the building. Leon hurried out after her, it was raining now too. She pulled out an umbrella and walked towards the front gate.

"Ada, wait!" He caught up to her.

"Oh, it's you." She turned around. "The rookie from earlier. What do you need?" They walked through the gate and a black car pulled up alongside the curb.

"I checked your record, you have nothing on you. Literally nothing. Plus, you claim you showed up to the crime right after it happened. I didn't see a single sole leave the building when I got there."

She opened the back-seat door and tossed her umbrella in. "You might want to get home officer, you might catch a cold out here." She climbed in and shut the door. The car pulled away, leaving Leon alone in the rain with so many questions.


	4. Chapter 4

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 4

She looked in the rearview mirror as they drove away. Behind them stood a dumbfounded police officer in the rain. _"He's kind of cute."_ She rolled her eyes, mocking her own thoughts. After a ten-minute car ride, Ada finally arrived back at her other loft. Much cozier than that putrid apartment John had been living in. She took the time after settling in to reflect on the past couple days.

 _Three days ago…_

It was late, her plane had already been delayed before so to be finally landing was a relief. Flying wasn't her thing. Once she was off the plane, she whipped out her phone and dialed his number. "John, it's me Ada. I'm at the airport, can you come get me?" After hanging up, she went and claimed her bag. It wasn't long before he showed up. She was sitting, legs crossed in the waiting area near the exit.

"Ada!" He waived.

She stood up and grabbed her bags. "John, it's been too long." They hugged.

"Yeah I know right? It's been what, two months?"

Ada took a moment to think. "Yeah it would seem so!" She smiled. "Shall we leave?"

"Sure! Let me get that for you." He reached for her luggage, but she pulled away.

"That's sweet of you but it's quite alright."

"Oh, okay." He looked confused but returned to his normal grin. "My car is in the parking garage."

After leaving the airport, they went straight to his apartment. Raccoon City hadn't changed much in the last two months since she was here. She had bumped into John at a coffee shop he frequently goes to. He had spilled her coffee and felt the need to buy her another one. After that, one thing led to another and they were in a relationship.

"Do you like it? I moved in last month after my other contract was up. It even came with a spare room!" They moved about the apartment. She wasn't too keen on it, but it was only temporary.

"Oh yes, it's very nice." She lied.

"Are you hungry? I can order a pizza?" He asked.

"Sure, that sounds good. Do you mind if I take the spare? I haven't been sleeping too well lately so I wouldn't want to wake you in the middle of the night."

"No, go ahead. I work early in the mornings anyways." He pulled out his phone and started dialing for the pizza delivery. Ada left the kitchen and walked down the hallway to the spare. She opened it and found it wasn't as bad as the rest of the apartment. Mostly because it only had a bed, desk, and dresser. _"It'll work for now I suppose."_ She thought. Her phone had vibrated.

 _Did you make it yet?_

She typed back. _Yes, I'll report in what I find out tomorrow._ She closed her phone and tossed her luggage next to the bed. She returned to the living room when John had finally finished ordering. "Hey John, do you have work tomorrow?"

"Yes, why?" He relaxed onto the couch.

Ada walked over and sat down next to him. She leaned up against him, he reeked of air freshener. "Well… I was wandering if maybe I could tag along? You could show me what you do." She turned her head up to him and smiled.

"I uh- sure! I don't see why not." He didn't look sure of his response but that's all he said about it. "Want to watch a movie?"

She nodded. They spent the rest of the night eating pizza and watched a scary movie about a killer in a ghost mask who goes around terrorizing people, and asks what their favorite scary movie is. Ada's favorite part was when the killer tripped up the stairs.

The next morning, she woke up early and showered. She spent an hour doing her womanly regimens while John took about twenty minutes until he was ready to go.

"I'm sorry if your late." She finished doing her eyelashes.

"No, we'll be fine. I'm skipping coffee this morning, so we'll have plenty of time."

They took John's car again and drove to the main Umbrella facility in Raccoon. It was a bit of a drive and getting through the security took a bit longer than usual since Ada wasn't in their system. The place was huge, it had five stories and walkways that surrounded the center pillar which housed two elevators. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. "We're on the third floor." They got into the elevator with a crowd of people. It was a bit cramped for Ada's taste. They got off at the third floor and walked across the walkway. There were so many people. After some hallways and doors, they passed another layer of security which led them to John's office/lab. "Would you mind waiting here Ada? I need to go check in with my boss."

"It's no problem." She smiled and sat down in his desk chair that swiveled. On his monitor were some sticky notes.

 _Check in with Neal about testing._

 _FBX0000192_

 _Files are in third drawer. Pin Number is 90275._

 _"He's not very good at remembering things apparently… Who leaves stuff like this out?"_ She took a chance and checked the third drawer. The pin was right, and it unlatched. She pulled it out and looked at the file names. There was one that matched the FBX number on the sticky note. Just as she reached for the file she could hear footsteps and talking. She quickly shut the drawer and relaxed in the chair as John and another man walked in.

"Ada! Hey this is Neal! He's a good friend of mine and works here too." Ada held out her hand and Neal shook it.

"Nice to meet you Neal."

"You as well. John has never mentioned you before. I can see why now! She's too pretty for you John." He laughed.

"Oh, you're too much." She laughed and internally rolled her eyes.

John gave her a tour of his office showing where he kept basic stuff, then he moved to the lab area of it. "We conduct all kinds of cool experiments in here. We're working on curing diseases and developing new medicines. I do more of the small testings though, at our other facility they do the big ol' mama jamas. It's the best.

"Where's that at?" Ada wondered.

"It's underground somewhere in the city, I haven't been there but have seen the product footage."

She took note of that. John showed her the break room next and then finally the archives room. "Hey Ada, I'd love to show you more, but I got to do a bit of work first."

"It's okay. I wouldn't want to keep you from that." She grinned as she walked back behind him. Over the next few hours she studied him from a chair in the corner. Every once in a while she'd ask a silly question, then a more serious one. It kept him clueless from what she was gathering. When he got up to go do something, she'd slide into his chair and check his computer. She discovered multiple testing results for a virus that was plagued in a newly developed medicine. Then after that there was cure results for the virus caused by the medicine. _"Curing a problem so you can add on your own. Sounds like something a pharmaceutical would do."_ After some more digging she found the same FBX number in a digital file. Instead of opening it, she reached down and took off her shoe, she rotated the heel off and rotated the middle of it to reveal a flash drive. She inserted it into his computer and copied all the files she'd seen. After a few minutes she unplugged it and returned the monitor to its original screen. She put her shoe back on and sat back into her chair and swiveled when John coincidentally came in.

"Hey, I'm going to take a lunch break, want to go grab something?" He asked.

"Sure, can we get Chinese?"

"Yeah of course, I found a new place downtown, it's so good."

After filling up on Chinese, John finished out his work day with Ada. She had sketched a layout of the facility she would need to know before they left. _"It'll be in and out."_ She told herself. "Say John, what time does the facility usually close up? I can't imagine they'd want to run this much electricity twenty-four seven?"

"On a day like today, probably eleven-ish." He unlocked the car doors and they both got in. "Ready to go home?"

She felt ill at the thought of calling that place home. "Sure…"

"Everything alright?" He started up the car.

"Yes, just feeling a little under the weather. That's all."

After another drive, they were back at the apartment. "Hey John, I'm going to run to the store. I'll be back in an hour."

"Do you want a ride? If I would've known I could have drove you?' He offered.

"No, it's alright. Thank you though." She grabbed a coat from her luggage and left. She started walking down the street and pulled out her phone. She sent a message saying. _Meet up?_

After a few minutes there was a reply. _K._

She walked for about ten minutes until she reached a dark alleyway, she leaned up against the corner wall facing the street. Against the other corner wall facing the alleyway was a person. "Here's what I found." She pulled out her flash drive and handed it around the corner.

"Good. Get a sample." The voice was deep and weary.

"And John?"

"Get rid of him."

She could hear the footsteps trail off. On her way back, she planned out her next steps carefully. John was still oblivious, but she couldn't take any chances. _"If they close by Eleven, I can be in by Twelve. Out by Three at max."_ She reached the footsteps to John's apartment building. _"Sorry John, enjoy your time while you have it."_ She pitied John that night, he was a man who was doing his best to make something of himself. He must have now to have been on this hitlist.

"Hey Ada, as a Lawyer, do you get a lot of weird cases? John asked.

"I guess you could say I do." She couldn't think of any fake stories to come up with.

"Like what?"

"Well… One time a man was assaulted by a monkey in a zoo, so he sued the zoo." She laughed a little.

"Ha!" He busted out laughing.

She kept thinking of how she would do it, she'd have to wait obviously. A hundred different possibilities floated through her head. By the time the clock had struck eleven-thirty, John was asleep, and she was ready. She went into her luggage and pulled out a small black backpack. She was dressed in all black now, she put her grapple gun to her waist and filled her bag with ropes and small EMP bugs.

A black car was already arranged for her outside, it only took twenty minutes to get to the facility. There was security but nothing she couldn't handle. She hopped the gates and made note of cameras outside, she snuck behind buildings and through bushes. When she finally reached the side of the building she grappled up onto the roof. The ceiling had glass entry points which seemed so faulty to her. She repelled down the one that was closest to Johns area of the building. Two guards we're making rounds across the walkways. _"Childs play."_ Before repelling all the way down, she stopped. A security camera was following the guard's movements. She pulled out an EMP bug and her launcher and loaded it. With steady aim she fired it directly onto it, causing it to shut down for a while. She quickly repelled down and followed behind the two guards quietly. Once they were in a dark enough area, she ran up and tranquilized them both. They were out within seconds. "Night boys." She made her way to John's office. Once she was inside, she booted up the computer and dug out the file in the cabinet. There was a testing room listed on the file, her next destination. She pulled up a map layout of the entire facility on the computer. _"Let's see… Wow there's four more stories underground, and a train car that leads to… Hmm Interesting."_ She found the room and shut down the computer. After cleaning things up, she made her way down a level to the testing rooms. Inside the room she found various vials and labeled cabinets. One specifically caught her attention. _"FBX0000192, bingo."_ She looked in the cabinets for the test results. After finding them she took a photo and sealed it back up.

She took an hour to go through more of what was there, she found one labeled _corrosive distortion._ Its results were _fatal._ She took a sample of it. She knew Umbrella had ties with arms dealers, but to send stuff like this off was preposterous. "I think it's time some of these little tests came to a close." Ada reached into her bag and pulled out a matchbook, she took one of the vials labeled _oil: highly flammable_ and poured it all over the floor. She walked out into the hallway and struck a match. She grinned at the flame, then flicked it into the room. It was set into an uproar of fiery blaze. Glass shattering, small exploding pops. The facility alarm started ringing and the room shut itself off from the other areas to contain the incident. "Time to go." She left the way she came, through the roof and down the side walls. This time no guards were in the courtyard, so she snuck back through and hopped a side gate. The car was still waiting in the distance and she made her way there. She opened the door and got in.

"Boss says that wasn't part of the plan." Said the driver.

"Well plans change." She replied. She closed her eyes for the car ride back, except she wasn't taken back to John's. They pulled into a parking lot downtown. "Where are we?"

"Boss wants to talk." Ada exited the car. A man in a trench coat was smoking a cigarette and facing away from the car. She walked over to him.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I got what you wanted." She held out the FBX vial. The man reached out and took it from her.

"You ever play the game of baseball, Ms. Wong?"

"I played some softball as a child. Why do you ask?"

"Strike one Ms. Wong, you know what happens on strike three." He brushed past her and took her spot in the black car and it soon drove away.

She felt a little chill down her spine but pushed it aside feeling annoyed. _"Thanks for the ride home assholes."_ She pulled out her phone and dialed for a taxi. After half an hour, it showed up and she was taken back. She'd been out for four hours now. She made it back to his apartment by five. Feeling exhausted she walked into her guest room and fell right asleep.

It was noon by the time she woke up. She walked out into the living room and saw John on the couch drinking water and watching tv. "Hey, are you not working today?"

"Morning sleepy head, and no apparently there was a fire or something at the facility so no work!" He was still clueless. "I'm messaging with Neal right now, he apparently had to go in because his department was one of the main sources of the fire. He thinks someone else triggered it though."

She was struck by his words. "Really? Any idea who?"

"No, not yet. He said he's looking for footage with the security team right now." John finished his water. This was Ada's sign, she walked back into her room and grabbed her bag. She pulled out the vial of corrosive and returned to the living room. "That does sound exciting. Hey want more water?"

"Oh, yes please, I don't know why but I'm super dehydrated this morning." She took his glass and went into the kitchen. Pulling out the vial from her pocket she poured it inside and filled the rest with water.

"Here you go." She handed him the glass and he took a huge swig.

"I'll be right back, I need to grab my computer charger from my room." He got up and stood there. "Hey Ada, was there- AH!" He let out for cry of help. "What's happening!" He fell to the floor. "My stomach, it hurts!" He started clawing at his stomach, he attempted to get up. He dug into his chest now with his nails.

"Sorry John… Wasn't my choice."

"Why… Ada?" Covered in blood he brushed against the hallway walls. She followed as he tried to wobble away into his bedroom. He collapsed onto his back. It was then he clawed deep into his intestines, after that his stomach erupted, killing him.

 _"What a painful way to go…"_ She felt a little guilty, but she set it aside and cleaned up her mess. Nothing should trace back to her. " _Someone must've heard it."_ She thought. She went to his computer and saw Neal sent an email. It was subjected as _Get out!_ Umbrella knew she had broken it, but it was clear they wouldn't go public with it. After all they had enough dirt on them to get locked up longer than she would've been. She erased the conversation with Neal. She'd need to get out of here before anyone saw her. She shut off all the lights and opened the front door an inch. She could barely make out a cop walking up the stairs, she quickly let go of the door and ran back into John's room. She hid behind the door…


	5. Chapter 5

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 5

 _A few months later…_

He wiped the drips of sweat from his forehead, Leon was exhausted after his Thursday night workout. He needed to be in shape if he was going to catch all of the criminals that run around Raccoon City. He had a lot on his mind, exercising was the best way for him to think. He hadn't seen that woman, Ada. Not for a couple months now, he figured she'd skip town or something. As he exited the front doors of the gym, he felt a buzz from his phone. He pulled it up to his face and read the notification. _Hey, I'm in town. Want to grab a bite to eat tomorrow morning?_ Leon looked at the recipient for the sender. " _It's from Claire?! What do I send back?"_ He felt those nervous butterflies in his stomach as usual. _Sure._ He hit send and immediately regretted it. _"I should've said more."_ He rolled his eyes.

Later that night, after a warm shower and replenishing meal, he laid flat on his bed staring at the ceiling. _"I don't have to be in until one which gives me plenty of time to grab breakfast and catch up. I wander why she's back? Do I have deodorant still?"_ He felt a plague of questions wash over him. He knew he'd be okay. It was just Claire and they were good… _"What are me and Claire? Pals? Friends? Romantic Interests? A thing?"_ He decided not to dwell on it too hard and closed his eyes.

He woke up in his childhood bed. His room was patterned with decorative cars and trains. Leon hopped out of his bed and walked out into the living room. It was empty, his parents were nowhere to be found. There was a knock on the door, nobody went to answer it, so Leon decided to do it himself. He opened the door and outside were two police officers.

"Excuse me son, are you Leon Kennedy?" The darker one asked.

"Yes sir…" He felt guilty answering the man, as if he had done something wrong.

"My name is officer Branagh, and this is officer Redfield." A woman behind him stepped up and held her hand out towards Leon.

"You can call me Claire." She smiled at him.

He was confused, why did she look so familiar? Had he seen her somewhere before? _"Is she from that new cop film?"_ He thought more to himself and then nothing of it. He took her hand and shook it.

"Look son, it's hard to tell you this but there's been an accident. You see your parents were supposedly on their way home and… Well they didn't make it. Were so sorry." The officer took off his hat and put a hand on Leon's shoulder.

Leon covered his face as the tears began to rain down. " _Why do I feel like this has happened before? Deja-vu?"_ He began to feel a little more sub-consciously aware of what was going on. _"Wait, this isn't real, I know these two already!"_

"Woah son, let's not get too hasty with those kinds of thoughts okay?" The officer tucked his hand onto his hip near his gun holster.

 _"They wouldn't shoot me, would they?!"_ Leon backed up. He witnessed Claire go for her gun, in the heat of the moment he reached and shut the door on them. He turned the lock and made a sprint back to him room.

"We're busting in son! It's going to be okay!" Marvin yelled and started hammering at the door.

He panicked, it didn't take them long to bust through the front door. Leon closed his bedroom door and went for the window. He yanked the curtains apart and pulled up on the window. He slid through the gap and was placed into the front yard. There were other officers outside near the street, he slowly walked along the side fence hoping they wouldn't notice when he took off down the sidewalk. But they did, and the dogs did too. Nothing but yelling and panting dogs behind him now, he raced down the neighborhood in his pajamas. _"Shit!"_ At the other end of the street a police car turned the corner and they had him surrounded on both sides. _"Maybe I can cross the street!"_ He hopped off the sidewalk and could hear a roaring siren, almost alarm like. The last thing he saw a was bright pair of headlights that turned into a big white flash.

He gasped for air, letting his body relax. He was back in his apartment, the alarm beside his bed was screaming.

"Shut up." He smashed the off button and laid back down. _"It was just a horrible dream."_

The rest of the morning he thought about what he was going to say Claire, they'd texted on and off since they'd seen each other last. They both lived busy lives which rarely allowed for social lives. Leon was very careful with planning his off time, even if it was just staying home to watch tv or a movie. It was something that helped him focus and stay on track. He flipped the off switch on his lights and locked the front door. _On my way._ He hit send and was off.

They met at the same place they first ate at together. Frank's had grown in popularity over the few months it had been open by now, cops were frequent customers and Leon was no exception to that.

"Sounds like you haven't been super busy since I've been gone?"

"Honestly Claire, it hasn't been, almost to a weird degree. I even talked to Marvin about it and he said that it was the slowest couple months the stations had in a while." He glanced out the window. "Enough about me though, what's new with you? You said you were promoted the last time we talked. How's that going?"

"Well, it is nice but it's so much more work than I had hoped. I'm practically doing day and night shifts now. I was only able to get away this week because I'd racked up enough PTO hours."

"Is it really that bad? I mean I occasionally pull an all-nighter to get paperwork done but gosh. I can't imagine how many days in a row you've been pulling." His thigh felt weird and he couldn't figure out why at first. He took a sip of his coffee and felt another buzz. _"Oh, my phone."_ He felt dumb. "One second Claire, I think it's work." He pulled out his phone and sure enough, it was. _Leon get to the station asap._ It was from Marvin. "Claire I'm so sorry, can we get a raincheck? Maybe later tonight? Dinner on me." He stood up from the table and put his jacket on.

"Oh of course, it's alright. I was thinking about going shopping most of the day anyways. I'll take you up on that dinner though later." She smiled.

"Thanks for understanding Claire." He took out his wallet and left a ten-dollar bill. "I'll catch you around!" He hustled out the diner and to his jeep.

On his way in, there was a car in about every parking spot. Everyone was here today and that meant something was going on. He walked through the front doors and waived to Marcy. "Good morning." She was busy typing and just waived to him. Leon opened the door into the squad room.

"Kennedy, good you're here. There's been another homicide." Marvin waived him over.

"Another sir? What do you mean?"

"Remember a couple months ago, the case with that woman and her boyfriend?"

Of course he did, he hasn't stopped thinking about it since. Something didn't seem right with Ada's story and Leon wasn't a keen believer in coincidences. "Yes sir. It's still cold case."

"Exactly, well it just got a bit warmer. Ben Bertolucci, a reporter, was just found dead in his hotel room at the Apple Inn." He showed Leon the picture of his body.

It was just like how he'd found the other one. His stomach was boiled out from the inside. It was a gnarly sight. "Sir, is Stars taking this one?"

"That's why I called you in rookie, you've been here about six months maybe seven? I don't know, that's not the point. Stars is supposed to be working with us on this case, they said one of us will be joining them. Now you've done some fine work since you've been here." He handed Leon the case folder. "Don't mess it up." He gave him a wink and walked off towards his office.

"Thank you. Sir!" He called after him. Leon looked at the address inside the case file. _"Okay, I need to go grab my bag."_ Leon made his way over to his locker and put on his gear. The same old white long sleeve, blue over-shirt and vest, and black fingerless gloves. He attacked his walkie to his vest and gun holster to his belt. He was going to need to reschedule his dinner date with Claire.

It was only a twenty-minute drive from the station. When he got out, he instantly recognized the place. _"Claire's staying here!"_ He looked around for any sign of her but didn't see anything among the patrol cars and yellow tape. He walked under the yellow caution tape and nodded his head to a fellow officer on lookout. The door that led to the scene of the crime was wide open. Chris was taking pictures of odds and ends around the room.

"Hello Leon, did Marvin send you to work with us?" Chris put the camera down and carefully stepped around the crime scene.

"Yeah he did. Hey, did you know Claire was staying here?" Leon looked around the room.

"Yes, that's why I jumped onto this as fast as I could. But don't tell my boss." He laughed. "She's okay though if that's what your asking. As soon as I got here, I called, and she said she was at the mall. Thank god."

Leon knew she was okay, he'd just seen her about forty minutes ago. But still, good to know she went straight from Frank's to shopping. Stuff like this can really get into people's heads who aren't ready for it. "Okay good, so what do we got so far?" He asked.

"Well the forensics team already took the body away as you can tell, you and I are going to look around the room a bit more and then go ask the manager of the inn some questions. Maybe he saw something. Okay?"

"Got it." He wanted to ask if Ada was somehow involved in this but didn't deem it the right time. He looked at the dresser, the tv was turned off and all the drawers were pushed in. On the bed were stains of what he assumed to have been from Ben's body. _"Gross."_ He walked to the bathroom and inside the mirror was smashed and shards were all over the counter and floor. _"Drops of blood inside the sink and on glass shards."_ He tried flipping on the light switch but there was no bulb in place. _"Where's the lightbulb?"_

"Don't bother with the lights in there. We found the lightbulb broken and little parts of it were stuffed inside Ben's stomach. There's only one set of finger prints in the entire room. Ben had severe cuts into his stomach when we found him. We think he broke the mirror and took out the lightbulb and used shards from each to try and cut out the chemical in his body. When the lightbulb didn't work, he used the mirror. He wasn't the brightest, I'll tell you that much. His notebook makes him seem like a lunatic." Chris showed him a photo of his writings and drawing. "He was probably days away from blowing his brains out to begin with, he kept a personal feelings log and most of it was about how sad and depressed he was. Wife and daughter left him four years ago and now he's out chasing any leads he can find."

"What was he chasing here?"

"I guess he had a lead on that pharmaceutical company, Umbrella? I'm not sure what it was, he didn't write anything about it besides that he was going to expose them supposedly."

That was the connection. Leon thought about John from the last homicide. "Chris you don't think someone working for Umbrella did this do you? John the victim from the last case was an Umbrella employee. What if Ben got too close to something he wasn't supposed to, and they offed him?" "Look Leon, I know this is your first big case, but this isn't like the movies. Besides we can't exactly go knocking on the front doors with nobody in mind to arrest or evidence to do so." Chris shook his head and continued to survey and takes note on the room. Leon knew something was there, and it probably had something to do with Ada.

After almost two hours Chris and Leon had finished their investigation of the room. Leon knelt down near the nightstand next to the bed, on the top there was a thick layer of dust. _"Wait, there's a square outline. That looks like it could be the outline of a phone."_ He stood up. "Chris, did we pick up a phone from Ben?"

"No why?" Chris walked over next to Leon.

"Look." He pointed to the faint outline of dust. "I think someone came in here before us and took his phone. Maybe he had evidence on his phone."

Chris pulled out his camera and an evidence number card. He set the card next to the outline and took a photo. "Good work Leon, you just might make a good detective someday. I think we've found most of everything we can for right now. Let's go and ask some questions." They both exited the motel room and walked back outside towards the front office of the Inn. Inside there was a man sitting back in his chair typing at a computer. "Excuse me sir, I'm Chris Redfield part of Stars. That's Special tactics and rescue squad. This is police officer Leon Kennedy. We're here about the incident that took place in one of your rooms. The one Ben Bertolucci was staying in."

The man stood up from his chair and walked towards them. Leon appreciated that Chris hadn't said rookie, he became quite annoyed hearing rookie from everyone at the department.

"Oh yes, that is quite unfortunate for him. No doubt going to put a huge halt on my business!" He seemed frustrated no doubt.

Leon began to tune out for some reason what he was saying, something about his home life, then his cat. He wasn't being much help to start.

"A woman came by earlier, I didn't get her name. She said she was supposed to meet someone-."

"Wait! I'm sorry to interrupt." Leon reengaged. "What did she look like? Shoulder-length black hair? Asian American?"

"Oh well, I believe so yes."

Leon looked to Chris. "It has to be Ada, from the last case."

Chris turned around to him. "Leon that description could be tons of woman in the city." He turned back towards the manager. "Can we see the surveillance video tapes from this morning?"

"Sure, right over here." He returned to his computer and pulled up the footage from this morning.

On screen around eight o' five a car parks near the motel. A figure steps out and makes its way toward it. As the figure becomes clearer, it's apparent that it's a woman. She has a trench coat on and a pair of dark sunglasses hiding part of her face. Just as the camera finally gets a decent picture. Leon knows in a heartbeat. _"It's Ada Wong."_


	6. Chapter 6

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 6

If she was still in Raccoon City, she was completely off the grid. Leon was seated at his desk twiddling his thumbs at his computer. _"Maybe she flew out of the country after what happened to John?"_ After a short phone call with the Raccoon Airport, nothing turned up. There was no Ada Wong in their database in the last year. He looked to the clock. _"8:00?!"_ Had he really been there all night? He began to feel a little fuzzy after taking in his environment. Besides him there were only two other guys in the office this early. He rubbed his eyes and heard the door swing open.

"Wow Kennedy, you're still here? Redfield must be working you hard with this case."

It was Marvin, he was always at work earlier than he needed to be. He loved his job and was officer of the month on and off sometimes. "Yeah, it hasn't been too bad, I guess I just lost track of time." He yawned.

"Well hey, why don't you take a three-hour break? Go home, shower, and take a quick nap." He came over and patted Leon on the shoulder.

"I might just do that sir, thanks." Leon stood up and shoved his files into his desk. He wasn't on planning on going home though, he wanted to make it up to Claire if he could. He really wasn't sure how long she'd be in town for, so he decided to make the best of it. He ran upstairs and made his way to the locker rooms. After a quick change and shower, he pulled out his phone and dialed her number. He started to make his way out of the station when he was almost hit by the swing of the front doors.

A woman was digging in her purse walking in. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I-." She looked up and made eye contact with Leon.

"Claire, hi I was just-." He started laughing and turned a little red.

"Leon I was just coming to see you actually." She laughed a little too.

Was it a weird twist of fate? Or mere coincidence? He didn't care. "Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to go get breakfast or coffee. You know?" He felt stupid asking so nervously.

"Yeah sure. Do you care if I say hi to my brother? He's the other half of the reason I'm here.

"No, not at all. I should probably tell him I'll be out for a bit anyways."

They made their way up to the third floor and to the Stars room. Everyone was in the same exact spot they were every time he came in there, Chris was typing away at his computer and turned his head as they walked in the room.

"Claire, hey, how are you?" He looked past her and noticed Leon. "Leon." He nodded to him.

"I'm great, just thought I'd stop by and check on you. We should get dinner sometime, I have some news I think you'd be interested in." She walked over and hugged him.

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

Leon had begun to notice that about Chris after working more with him. He wasn't very patient about most things, he wanted it here and now.

"Oh Chris, then what would we have to talk about at dinner?" She turned her head to Jill. "Hey, did you want to join us?"

Jill was eating a breakfast sandwich in the moment. Her eyes kind of widened and she turned red, finally realizing Claire was talking to her. She wiped her mouth and set it down. "Oh! Sure. I'd love to." She smiled and stared at her monitor like a mirror and tried to make sure there were no crumbs on her face.

"Perfect, I'll message you the details later." Claire smiled at both of them. "I'll see you later."

Chris let out a little sigh. "Okay Claire." He looked to Leon. "Do you need anything Kennedy?"

Leon stepped forward. "No sir, I'm just letting you know that I'm going to step out for a few hours. Marvin suggested it, I've been here all night." He felt like a barrel of excuses.

"Not a bad idea, I might step out for a minute too. Maybe nap at my desk. You aren't the only one whose been up all night." He yawned.

"Okay, I'll be back." Leon turned around and noticed out of the corner of his eye the captain of Stars glaring at him. He had his sunglasses on. _"Is he hungover a lot? He always has those on."_ He ignored it, but his stare almost felt menacing. He closed the door behind him and Claire. "So where to?" They made it about halfway down the hall when a door opened behind them.

"Excuse me." It was the captain of Stars. "Leon correct?"

He was even more menacing up close. "Yes sir." He gulped.

"Have you found anything on Ms. Wong in your search?"

He hadn't, Ada was that itch that needed scratching in the back of his head. "No, not yet. Why?"

"Maybe you should start looking at other possible leads, no point in chasing a ghost, right?" His tone suggested he himself wasn't suggesting this. He was ordering it.

Leon felt a nervous sting go down the back of his spine. "Yeah, you're right sir." He turned around and looked to Claire who was off in la-la land. "You ready?"

"Huh?" She regained conscious. "Oh, yes."

He followed her.

"Be careful out there Kennedy…" The captain yelled behind them.

He felt his stomach turn as it usually did when he felt nervous. _"That's one way to kill my morning."_ He decided to not take it to heart for right now and enjoy his break. "Did you decide where you wanted to go?"

"Leon, is that even a question?" She laughed.

They pulled into the parking lot of Frank's. After they finally ordered, Leon had another itch he wanted to scratch. "What news did you have to share with Chris? If you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's okay. I was planning on telling you anyways." She smiled and looked out the window. "So, you know how I got that promotion?"

"Yes."

"Well part of my promotion requires me to take a few courses in the area of study I'm not exactly great in. So, I'll be coming out here for a couple months to take them. My work is paying for them thankfully so no worry about cost. Unfortunately, I'm out of my job for the next couple months though." Her smile faded.

"Wait, you didn't come here on your paid time, off did you? You are starting classes soon." He didn't really understand why she lied about it at first.

"Exactly. I know I lied before but that was just because I felt a little embarrassed and I didn't want to have Chris worry about mom. If we're both down here than she's all alone back home. He gets super _Dad_ like when nobody is with her. She getting older you know?"

"It's okay Claire, I understand. You shouldn't feel embarrassed, it's just a couple courses. Plus, it'll give you the luxury of seeing your brother more."

"I figured you might understand Leon. Thank you." She reached across the table and put a hand on Leon's whose hand was just laying flat. She smiled.

He was about to have a heart attack, he felt a rush of nervousness come over him that he hadn't felt in a while. Like someone who hadn't felt a woman's touch in a long ass time. He remained calm though. _"Don't cause a scene."_ He smiled back at her. "Yeah of course Claire. Um what happened to your father?"

"He passed away a couple years ago. I used to live down here believe it or not but when he passed, mom needed someone, and Chris was preoccupied with saving the city. He would've moved in a heartbeat though, don't get it wrong. He's a big momma's boy." She giggled.

Leon could get behind that, he loved his mother… "I would've never figured that!"

The waitress brought a tray over with their food on it. "Here you two are." She set them down on the table.

"Thank you." They both said.

After about four minutes of eating in nothing but chewing and moaning silence, Leon wiped his mouth. "Hey where are you going to stay? Hotels are expensive."

"Well, I was going to see if I could stay in Chris' spare room. He barely has anyone use it anyways. One of the reasons I need to talk to him."

"Oh, that's a good idea. If that doesn't work just let me know, that couch we lifted apparently doubled for a bed. I had no idea until I cleaned the seats a couple months ago." His face felt red.

"Hmm. You've cleaned them since, right?"

"Yes of course!" They both laughed.

"Okay Leon, I'll take it." She smiled.

He felt puzzled. "Wait really? What about Chris' guest bedroom?"

"Well… I don't want to be under the same roof as him again. He wasn't the easiest brother to grow up with. I doubt he's changed that much."

"Well, okay sure. When does your hotel payment end?"

"After tonight, I will have to pay more if I want to stay another night."

"Alright well tomorrow we can move all your stuff in then. I'm sure you don't have that much right?"

She rested her elbow on the table and her hand held up her head. "Leon I'm a girl, I have a shit ton of stuff."

"Right!" He scratched his head.

He returned to work an hour later. He sat down again at his desk and took a second to stretch in his chair a bit before opening his email. He only had one since he'd been gone, the sender was unknown. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to open emails like this. Hacking was becoming a bigger problem in the U.S and if someone had hacked the station because he didn't follow protocol. Well let's just say he'd need to relocate and find something else he's good at. He decided to do the right thing and drag it to the trash.

"Leon, how was your break?" It was Marvin again.

"It was good, feeling a little regenerated I suppose."

"Glad to hear that, I'm going to go grab lunch. I'll see ya."

"Yeah have a good one sir." He looked back at his computer, there was another email. Again, with another unknown sender. This time in the description it said. _"DON'T DELETE L."_ Whoever had sent it knew him. Even though he had the gut feeling it might be important, it could also be the end of his career. Maybe the hackers saw him as an easy target, the rookie who wouldn't know any better. He repeated the same steps, drag and drop. He closed his email and opened his case file. So far, Ada was his top suspect. Chris hadn't found anything on her either since they watched the footage. He couldn't help but feel suspicious of the Stars captain now, he'd specifically asked him to stop looking for her. Why didn't he tell Chris that instead? He sits in the same room as him. He didn't like it, although it was wrong to be suspicious of a superior, the guy had earned suspicion after earlier. Leon decided to dig up everything he could.

After an hour of searching he'd learned enough to still almost know nothing about him. His name was Albert Wesker and he had a sister. No criminal history or much else to deem him the devil. He started an email asking to meet Chris in person to talk. After a short while he met Chris on the second-floor stairway.

"What did you need to talk about? Find anything out?"

"Chris what's your boss like?"

"What? Is that what this is about? He's… I don't know, a boss, overwhelming, a good leader. Why?"

"He asked me earlier to not follow any leads about Ada, said there's no point in chasing a ghost. Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"

"Leon are you accusing a superior of something?" He frowned a little.

This wasn't the response Leon was really expecting. "No of course not, I just-."

"Let me stop you right their Rookie, he's been here far longer than you or I. You don't get to go around being skeptical because a fellow officer gave you advice. If I were you, I'd step back into line and get your head straight. This conversation is done." He walked back up the stairs.

Leon felt embarrassed and like a fool. Chris was probably right, he wasn't exactly thinking straight with how tired he was. He hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours. He began to think on the way back to his office. He didn't want to pull another all-nighter, so he crammed through paperwork for the next couple hours.

When it was finally time to leave, he shut down his computer and locked his desk drawers. He hoped Chris wouldn't hold what he said earlier against him, he actually enjoyed working with Chris. In the heat of the moment, he turned his computer back up and typed and apology to him. _"Sorry about today, you were right. I'm going to head home and get some sleep. Call if you need me at all. -Leon."_ He knew he wouldn't call him right away if something happened or new evidence popped up. Leon was a rookie, he was a part of Stars. They were in two different leagues.

It was dark on the way home, he thought about tomorrow. He would help Claire move in when he got off of work. He didn't know if it was the right move letting her move in with him for a couple months. After all, they were still in a very weird part of their relationship. _"Are we dating?"_ She kissed him once but that was it. Maybe she was waiting on him to make the next move. Or did he already do it? _"Was asking her to move in the next move?"_ He pulled in next to a curb near his apartment. He grabbed his work backpack and made his way up the flight of stairs. When he reached the door of his apartment, he noticed the door was cracked open a little.

" _What the hell?"_ He drew his handgun and pushed the door opened just enough so he could slide in quietly. The lights were still off, and it was silent. His footsteps creaked a little which didn't help at all. The living room was empty, as was the kitchen. He felt his sweat trickle down his back. _"You can do this. Stay calm."_ He slowly walked towards the dimly lit bedroom. The moon shined through his window. He walked through the door frame and looked around. It was still too dark. The door behind him slammed shut, he turned to face what was behind him when his gun was disarmed, and a pair of legs wrapped around him pulling him back first to the ground. It was Deja-vu if he'd ever felt it. On top of him, was Ada Wong.

"We need to talk…"


	7. Chapter 7

Pugaliciousdish

The Rookie

Chapter 7

"Was that really necessary? I could arrest you for trespassing, home invasion, assault, assaulting a police officer!" Leon struggled to stand up. He picked his gun up off the ground. "What are you doing here?" He aimed it back at her.

"Oh put that away." She rolled her eyes.

He kept his gun up. "I will arrest you if you don't start talking."

"Leon, I need your help." You're the only other person I can trust in this city." She walked towards the window and scanned the outside.

His aim followed her. "What makes you think that I'll trust you? You haven't been exactly the easiest to find, not to mention the number one suspect in a murder case. I should cuff you."

"If you bring me in, Umbrella will have me killed."

"The pharmaceutical company? What about them?" Leon lowered his weapon a little.

"Let's go." She walked out of the room and to the front door.

"What?" Leon followed her. "Where are we going?"

She remained silent and walked out of the apartment and started down the stairs. _"If she tries anything funny, I'll cuff her. I hate when women do this, can't she just get to the point?"_ They exited the building and she opened the passenger door of his jeep and got in. "Hey, you have to give me some answers before we go anywhere." He opened the driver door and got comfortable.

She pulled out her phone and opened up her photos. She turned it to him. On screen was a picture of a vial. "You see this? It's a chemical that could potentially harm a lot of people. Now drive and I'll tell you more."

He turned on his jeep and started driving. "What does it do? How do you know about this?"

"I got a tip from the people I work with." She signaled to him to take a left.

"And Ben?"

"He was a lead; dead when I got there. It must've been the same people that got John."

"So, you expect me to believe that you're magically connected to both murders based on coincidence?" He turned his head to her and she shrugged. They continued to drive for a while until he said something again. "Say I do believe you, where are we going right now? At least tell me that."

"We're almost there Leon, just take a right up here." Leon turned down a long street, there was a construction yard up ahead. "See that parking meter? Park next to it." He pulled off the street and parked.

"No more games. What are we doing here?" It was pitch black outside, not a soul up or down the street.

"Leon how much do you trust who runs Raccoon City? Someone like the police chief for example?"

"Well to be honest, he's kind of a dick. Gives me the creeps." He thought about Chief Irons, he wasn't someone he'd want to work directly under. The guy was loud and big, his face screamed pedophile to Leon. "But that's between us."

"But do you trust him?" She returned to her phone.

"Well yeah of course, he's the chief. He didn't get this far on handouts I imagine. Supposedly he was big back in his day, several busts and what not."

Ada showed him another photo. "This is Irons meeting with some representatives from Umbrella." He was in the back of a limousine with two other guys. The angle of the photo made it hard to see the two men, but Leon could make out Irons pretty clearly.

"How do you have this? Aren't you just a lawyer?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Leon, I could lose my job for this but, I feel like I can trust you." She reached into her bag and pulled out a badge. "I'm undercover, FBI."

Now he was really confused. "Why are you trusting me? I'm just a rookie police officer, surely there's other people at the station more capable of working with an undercover FBI agent."

"I like you Leon, you seem like an honorable guy. You can't trust your station either, it's very likely tapped. Someone like Irons is bound to have others on his similar payroll. Umbrella has controlled Raccoon City for years. You and I are going to expose them."

"So, John, he was your "in" at Umbrella? And now he's dead. How do I know they won't come after me next?"

"We keep this under wraps, everything stays between the two of us. If Umbrella gets any word I'm back in in the city, they'll start a manhunt for me. Which is why you play a big role in this too. You need to keep me out of the books for right now. Whatever evidence you can bring me in on, ignore it. Search other leads. Just find a way to halt your progress until you and I can get in and expose them."

What she was asking was a big dilemma that would go against his oath as an officer. _"What if they discover him? That he's been lying to cover her? What if she's lying?"_ He thought back to Irons, there's nothing worse than a crooked cop. "Okay Ada, I'll do it. On one condition, no more late-night manhandling." As he said it, he realized his poor choice of words. "I mean no late night-."

She interrupted him. "I got it, I'll call you beforehand. Answer your email and we wouldn't have had this problem." She rolled her eyes again.

He scratched his head. "Anyways what are we doing here?"

"Follow me." She got out of his jeep and he followed. They walked over towards the construction yard, it was lined with wire fencing and do not enter signs. From what Leon could tell, it was empty, and nobody was there.

"What are you doing? This is trespassing."

"Think of this as for the greater good Leon." She climbed the fence and dropped over.

He let out a sigh. "I'm going to get fired for this." He climbed and dropped after her. They made their way across the open lot and towards an area full of sewer pipes. "Where are we going?"

"Umbrella has a secret facility underground, they've been working on their products down here and shipping them up to the main facility for testing. When I went with John to the main facility, I discovered years' worth of unfinished experiments. They all started down here." She walked into a large sewer pipe. It started out dry but as they got further in, the smells started to seep into Leon's nose and shoes.

"That's gross." He gagged a little.

"You'll be fine." She let out a little laugh.

"How can they run an entire facility down here without anyone knowing?"

"Remember, they run this city, politicians, news reporters, there's always someone on their payroll. Chief Irons is there latest bag from what I can tell." The tunnel came to a halt, there was a drop off point. She went to the side of the drop off and descended down a ladder. "We're about there."

Leon hopped off the ladder and followed her further. They reached a metal door; the Umbrella logo was in the center of it. Next to it was a digital panel that said, " _Access Denied."_ He looked around for any other way in but was to no avail.

"Shit. This wasn't locked last time." She folded her arms. "Well let's go back, they'll be running security checks through here in a couple hours and it's best we don't get caught by one."

Leon checked his watch, it was getting late anyways. He still had to sleep, work, and help Claire move in later. "Alright then. I'm going to want more answers though Ada, you haven't given me too much to go on here."

"You have enough for now Leon, just know that Umbrella is bad, and they want to hurt people, ironically. We'll find a way in to that facility at some point but let's dig up more stuff later."

"Okay fine." They made their way back out of the sewers, they both remained silent for the most part till they were back inside the jeep.

"So where should I drop you off at?" Leon asked.

"Drop me off? Leon I'll need to stay with you until this whole thing blows itself out into the open." Now she raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are you serious? I'm supposed to be helping my-." He didn't' know what to call Claire. "-Friend, move in with me."

"Leon this is the case of a lifetime, we can't have anyone getting in the way of this."

"Shit…" He was in a sticky situation now, he really wanted to help Claire and he couldn't make out his feelings for her. _"The trouble with women…"_ He thought to himself and for the second time tonight, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay fine but you can't interfere with her and I, got it?"

"Oh, so it's a lady? Is Mr. Kennedy interested in her?" Now she was just being playful, as if her mood turned completely one-eighty.

"What? No, it's not like that I-. It's none of your business." He pulled up next to the curb of his apartment and got out. They went back upstairs and sat down at his small kitchen table. "Some rules need to be set, just cause we're working together on this, does not mean I fully trust you. That means no snooping into my private life or my room. I leave at seven-thirty-ish for work, when I get back varies so don't make a mess of the house while I'm gone. And don't eat everything."

"Sir, yes sir." She mocked him.

He had one question for right now. "Ada, how long do you think we'll be on this case?"

She took a moment before speaking. "I'm not sure, could be a day, week, a month. I'm honestly not sure yet."

"Okay well, the couch pulls out so help yourself. Blankets are already next to it. They were supposed to be for Claire."

"Sorry Leon, your girlfriend would understand though so don't take it too much to heart."

"She's not my-. Whatever, goodnight Ada." He got up and went to his bedroom and shut the door. He was tired and had to be up in a couple of hours for work. All he wanted was sleep and for this case to be over already.

The next morning, he woke up and got ready quickly. When he went into the living room, he noticed the couch hadn't been pulled out, nor were the blankets touched. Ada was gone. He looked onto the kitchen counter and noticed a note.

 _"Be back soon…"_ It was signed with a heart. He crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash. He went over to the door and tied his shoe laces then grabbed his bag and was out the door.

The first couple hours of work were boring, he tried to think of other things to bring to Chris, so it didn't look like he was slacking on the case. Eventually a new case would come about and this one would be left in the drawer along with other cold cases. It wouldn't be too great a record for Leon but within due time, his and Ada's efforts would solve an even larger case. Something like this could land him closer to being in Stars. He checked his phone, no new messages or calls from Ada. He started coming up with excuses he would have to tell Claire. " _I'm sorry but a psychopathic FBI agent is staying with me now and she can't be around people, I'm sorry but there's another person I need to stay with me right now, I'm sorry but my landlord won't let me have another person living with me right now."_ The last one was probably his best bet. It would let her know that eventually she could stay with him. He hoped it wouldn't' hurt her feelings. He dialed her number, after a few moments there was a pickup.

"Hello? Leon?" Her voice sounded ambient and excited.

"Claire, hey so I just spoke with my landlord and-." He hesitated. "We're all set for tonight!"

"Okay that's great Leon! I'll be over at six! Gotta run, bye!"

"Okay bye-." She hung up. " _Shit, what did I just do."_ He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. _"Ada can stay with me too, they both can, right? No, they both can't. Just one. Claire, it has to be her. Her college is important to her and work. Dammit! I hope Ada is home by now."_ He packed up his bag and checked the clock. It was only one o'clock. He walked into Marvin's office before leaving. "Hey sir, I'm not feeling great, I think it might be the flu." He covered his stomach then his mouth.

"Oh damn, well you best be getting home then. Flu is hitting everyone right now, Jo-jo just called in earlier. Feel better Kennedy."

"Thank you, sir." He made his way out of the office.

When he finally made it home, his apartment was still empty. There was another note on the kitchen table however.

" _Leon, I'm following another lead. I might be gone a day or two. Sorry for the short hiccup. Talk soon…_ " Signed again with another heart. He again threw it away and laid down on the couch.

" _Is she just playing games now? What if she gets back and Claire sees her? We just started working together and now she's already leaving for days on end. Women…"_ He closed his eyes and rested. When he opened them again it was to the sound of his doorbell. "There's no freaking way, I just went to sleep." He checked the clock and sure enough it was six-thirty. He went over and opened the door.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late! Took longer to finishing packing then I thought." Leon rubbed his eyes as he finally took in what he was seeing. She had on a red leather jacket and black tank-top underneath. She wore her regular pair of jeans with boots.

"it's alright Claire, you look great."

"Oh, thanks Leon!" She dragged a suitcase across the floor into the living room, she took her backpack off her back and set it next to the couch. "Did you just wake up?"

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed.

"Just a little. Hey, I have more stuff downstairs in the cab, will you help me grab it?"

"Of course!" They walked out of the apartment and downstairs outside to a guy unloading two more suitcases out of the trunk of his cab.

"Thank you so much sir." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. "You can keep the change." She smiled at him.

"Oh, you are very kind mam. You two have a wonderful night." He got back into his cab and drove off. They finished taking the luggage upstairs and finally sat down on the couch.

"Well that's out of the way now."

"Yeah maybe tomorrow we can drop by the furniture store and we can buy you a small dresser that way you don't have to live out of suitcases for the next couple months."

She turned herself and put one leg up on the couch to face Leon. "Yeah that would be awesome, but don't you think a dresser in the living room is a bit tacky?" She laughed.

"Only if you think about it too hard." He smiled.

For a second the room was quiet, they both just kind of stared at each other.

"Claire there's been something I've been meaning to ask you about-." Claire reached for Leon and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Does that answer your question by any chance?" She smirked at him playfully.

"Yeah sort of, I-." His phone buzzed rapidly. "I'm so sorry I think it might be work." He sighed and pulled out his phone, it was an unknown number. Reluctantly he accepted. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Leon it's me." It was Ada's voice. "Something's happened…"


End file.
